Interview with Yves Raimond & Justin Basilico, Netflix

Interviewer: James Vlahos, Wired
Interviewee: Yves Raimond & Justin Basilico, Netflix
Questions:
• Tell us a bit more about your current work at Netflix
• How did you both start your work in AI and deep learning?
• What elements do you take into consideration when recommending titles, and how do you convince a user that any particular title is worth watching?
How are you using AI for a positive impact?
• Which other industries are you most excited so see implementing AI for a positive impact in the next 5 years?
• The growth of AI is exponential, and countless industries are applying new models to their business. What do you think the key skills are for a career in AI/DL?
• What have you enjoyed most about the Deep Learning Summit?

Justin Basilico, Director of Machine Learning at Netflix

Justin Basilico is a Research/Engineering Director for Page Algorithms Engineering at Netflix. He leads an applied research team focused on developing the next generation of algorithms used to generate the Netflix homepage through machine learning, recommendation, and large-scale software engineering. Prior to Netflix, he worked on machine learning in the Cognitive Systems group at Sandia National Laboratories.

Yves Raimond, Director of Machine Learning at Netflix

Yves Raimond is a Research/Engineering Director at Netflix, where he leads the Promotion & Growth Algorithm Engineering team: a mixed team of researchers and engineers building the next generation of Machine Learning algorithms used to drive the Netflix experience. Before that, he was a Lead Research Engineer in BBC R&D, working on information extraction from Multimedia content. He holds a PhD from Queen Mary, University of London.